Somali International News

With the end of the mandate for the Transitional Federal Government looming, the Somali political structure is in disarray over questions of legitimacy and leadership in the war-torn country. Established in 2004 and backed by the United Nations, the TFG was originally tasked to deliver national elections and a new constitution by August of this...

International and local rights groups are demanding the immediate release of journalists being held by the Somali government.
Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government is facing intense criticism after the detention of two journalists from Mogadishu’s Shabelle Media Network.
On Sunday, the National Security Agency arrested Radio Shabelle News...

As pro-government troops continue their push to oust Islamist insurgents from southern and central Somalia, Uganda and Burundi have pledged additional troops to reinforce the African Union peacekeeping mission.It has been slightly more than a month since the Somali government launched an offensive against the al-Qaida-linked insurgent group al-...

A rebel group in Ethiopia's arid Somali region has issued an urgent appeal for humanitarian assistance, accusing the government of blocking aid deliveries.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) insurgent group says people and livestock are dying in Ethiopia's Somali region as drought conditions deteriorate across the Horn of Africa. An email...

The Somali government is claiming victory in a month-long offensive to retake pieces of southern Somalia from the insurgent group al-Shabab. But as fighting continues and the death toll rises, the impact of the recent clashes remains unclear.There has been relative calm in Somalia’s border regions over the past week as fighting between government...

The United Nations refugee agency reports evacuation flights from Tunisia and Egypt are not keeping pace with the number of new arrivals from Libya. The UNHCR says about 2,500 people are arriving at the Tunisian border every day. The U.N. refugee agency reports 17,000 people are at the Tunisian transit camp waiting to go home. The agency says...

-- With the killing this week of four Americans by Somali pirates, there is renewed debate over how to deal with the piracy problem.
Among those studying the issue is Professor Peter Lehr of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, author of the book Violence at Sea: Piracy in the Age of Global Terrorism.
Needle in a haystack
Somali piracy has...

The killing of four Americans by suspected Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea is putting the spotlight on challenging international military and legal efforts to end widespread piracy off of Somalia. Experts are suggesting a range of other approaches, including more economic engagement, strategic attacks and reducing ransom payments as possible...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday deplored the killing by Somali pirates of four Americans whose yacht was hijacked off the Somalia coast late last week. U.S. officials say the ultimate answer to the piracy problem lies in restoring security in Somalia. Obama administration officials are urging a tougher international response to Horn-of-...

Somali pirates say a hijacked yacht carrying four Americans is expected to reach land in Somalia on Sunday.U.S. officials have been weighing possible responses to Friday's hijacking of the SV Quest off the Somali coast.The ship is the home of Scott and Jean Adam, who have sailed the world for several years distributing Bibles in a variety of...

U.S. authorities are weighing possible responses to the hijacking of a yacht carrying four Americans in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Somalia.A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, Matt Goshko, says all relevant U.S. government agencies are monitoring the situation.Officials say pirates commandeered the U.S. flagged yacht Quest off...

Ethiopia’s government estimates 2.8 million people will need emergency food aid this year, down sharply from a year ago. Nearly 40 percent of the severe malnutrition cases are reported in the sparsely populated, but insurgency-wracked Somali region.The good news is that the number of Ethiopians in danger of severe malnutrition has dropped from 5.2...

Capping a three-day tour of refugee camps in drought-stricken parts of Somalia, U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos told reporters that serious international focus is needed to head off increasingly severe shortages of food and water.
“Somalia, as you know, hosts one of the largest populations of displaced people in the world and is...

Twenty years ago the overthrow of Somali president Mohamed Siad Barre left the country in chaos. Since then, Somalis have been through years of civil strife and one of Africa’s longest civil wars.
One observer says the country is weak because it is divided into clans. Hussein Warsame, a professor at Calgary University in Canada, says Somalia has...

Somalia’s international backers have extended the term of parliament beyond August, when the mandate of the country’s embattled transitional government expires. But it appears Somalia’s president may be replaced.The international community on Monday handed down a harsh verdict on the performance of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government,...